How’s your prayer life lately? I ask that question in light of our recent theme of Breakthrough Prayer. We spent each week for a couple of months focusing on the importance of asking God to do over and above in the situations that we present to him, the greater things that Jesus said he would do for his followers. I know that some of you were challenged to make prayer a regular part of your lives each day and you found ways and times to talk with the Lord and listen to his answers to your requests. I trust that you are still incorporating practical prayer into your everyday routines and are seeing God working in and through you in an expanded way.
However, here’s what I know can easily happen if we aren’t careful - prayer can slowly slip into the background if we let other things crowd it out. The constant clamour of stuff vying for our attention is a force to reckon with. Sometimes these are things that we like and want to do and other times they are things we feel we have to do. All of them require time from us and unless you consciously choose at the beginning of every day to seek God at every opportunity, you won’t. And over time, you realize that consistent prayer of any kind, let alone focused breakthrough prayer, is almost non-existent.
We as a church family and as individuals have been seeing some amazing answers to prayer in recent days. The Holy Spirit has been involving himself in our day to day situations to bring about God’s plan that we may or may not fully understand at the time. Breakthrough prayer is not something we can engage in periodically to be effective. It has to be a top priority continually. Remember this - whatever you are going through today is fully in God’s view. He knows exactly what’s happening and is ready to interact with you about what you should do next and what he is doing. As you do this you find your faith in God will be strengthened and increased and you will become more aware of God’s activity around you. I am experiencing this in my own life at a deeper level and know that you will too.
The summer is upon us which doesn’t mean that we need to pray less intensely. With the children off school and vacation times and family get togethers happening for many, it’s actually a time we should pray just as much or more for God’s blessing on every activity we are involved in. Don’t we need divine intervention every day throughout the year? I was reminded of how much we do this week upon hearing the news that my daughter-in-law, who is pregnant, was involved in a serious car accident on her way to work. The first thing that I was asked to do by her mother and my son when they called was to pray. Without knowing the extent of the injuries to a mom and her unborn baby and feeling somewhat helpless not being there to help, I did what I was asked to do along with others like my wife as they heard the news – pray, asking God for his favour in all of the details and thanking him for his protection already. We are praising the Lord that my daughter-in-law and her baby are going to be fine with some rest.
Every morning I ask God to bless my family throughout the day and name them one by one. I ask for his protection, provision, guidance and favour and I surrender all of them into his care. At the close of each day I thank the Lord for doing the things that I asked, highlighting specific things that have happened out of the ordinary. Then as I lay my head on my pillow I feel surrounded with the presence of the Holy Spirit and I rest in my trust in his ongoing love and care.
Can I encourage you to keep prayer a priority in your everyday? Over these summer months take time to seek the Lord and give him complete oversight of everything you will be doing individually and as a family. And remember to keep praying for our church family, that we will all continue to grow in our faith in God to do over and above so that we can make a serious impact in our community for Jesus.
This Sunday we are beginning a new series of messages from the book of Proverbs. We are calling it “Summer of Wisdom” and each week we will take a practical look at how to live God’s way with his wisdom. See you soon….
Blessings.
Pastor Del